Not Far From the Tree
by etraytin
Summary: After finally getting the education bill through Congress, President Santos and his staff gather for an informal cookout in the White House, where everybody has something to say.


Author's Note: Hey everybody! Today's prompt comes from Arpad_Hrunta, who asked "I'd like to see the scene in the West Wing or Residence after the Santos Education Package passes. Just a nice scene a la The Crackpots and These Women, of Santos, Josh, Donna, Sam, Amy, Annabeth, Lou, Ronna, Otto and Bram relaxing after a hard-fought and well-earned victory. Bonus points if there's a reference to Bram and Otto having got up to some hijinks like Josh and Sam used to." This prompt languished for nearly a month because I've been so ridiculously busy, but I really liked it, so here it is today.

And yes, there is (or at least was) a little private patio on top of the Truman balcony, and President Eisenhower used to have little cookouts there on a hibachi grill. I'm not sure where else you'd go in the White House for a private cookout without driving the Secret Service completely nuts.

…...

"This feels like a weird dream," Cindy commented as she pulled on her jacket and hurried after Ronna through the corridors of the West Wing. Everybody always hurried in the corridors, even people who weren't in a hurry; any stragglers were invariably mowed down by those behind them. "Like, we didn't sleep for a week while we were passing the education bill we've been flogging for the past year, so now I'm hallucinating that President Santos is going to cook us hamburgers on a hibachi grill on the roof of the White House."

"Don't make fun!" Ronna insisted, buttoning her own jacket. "Do you know what kind of research I had to do to figure out how to stage a private cookout at the White House? You know the last president who liked grilling? It was Eisenhower," she answered herself before Cindy could respond. "And it's not exactly the roof, it's the patio outside the solarium."

"Which is the roof of the Truman Balcony," Cindy pointed out as they started to climb the stairs.

"Well yeah, but not the actual roof-roof, like with the snipers. It's an important difference," Ronna insisted. "I don't think they'd let us go up there. God, I hate how cold it is in DC. It's supposed to be March!" She pulled a wool hat from her coat pocket and secured it on her head.

"You grew up in San Antonio, winter is like a foreign country," Cindy teased affectionately. She had not even bothered to button her jacket. "All I know is that if Otto makes even one more stupid apple joke about the education bill, I'm gonna kill him."

…...

"Okay, how about this. "As a token of thanks for all your work passing the Excellence in Education Bill, the President and I would like to welcome you to this Gala event-" Otto dissolved into laughter at his own wit.

Bram rolled his eyes. "One, that was terrible, two, I don't think you actually need to be writing remarks for a staff cookout, and three, if the girls hear you making any more apple jokes I sincerely fear for your life."

"It has seeded some discontent in the East Wing," Otto snickered. He'd initially been a little ambivalent when Donna had poached him to be the First Lady's chief speechwriter, but it had turned out to be a great opportunity. He had to deal with Josh Lyman a lot less, which was really good for his stress levels, and Helen Santos was a gifted speaker who could do a lot with whatever material was given to her. He liked to think he'd given her some good stuff, apple puns notwithstanding. "They find it pretty APPAL-ling."

"That's right, get it out of your system now," Bram encouraged as he shut down his computer. "How long do you think this thing's going to last?"

"I dunno, maybe a couple hours?" Otto guessed. "Why, you got a date?"

"As a matter of fact," Bram confirmed with a grin. "Her name's Winifred, she's a staffer at the GAO. She's really intense, but in a good way. I met her when she was yelling at me about saying reauthorization bills are boring on Capital Beat. Apparently they're fascinating if you just look at them right and aren't a moron."

"And... that's a good thing?" Otto asked.

"A little intensity can be very sexy," Bram confirmed. "Add in the rest of her... yeah. Anyway, I agreed to let her educate me about the error of my ways over drinks and dinner, but I've gotta get out of this thing before eight."

"You're going to a barbecue and then going to dinner?" Otto was looking more baffled by the moment.

"Come on, I'm a vegetarian," Bram reminded him as they stepped into the hallway and headed for the Residence. "Have you seen what the President can do to a portabella mushroom? I'm going to grab a plate full of Helen's coleslaw and pretend to be very, very full if anybody gets near me with anything charred."

…...

"You've got to admit it's a lot better than the chili."

"I liked the chili."

"You're lying, Donnatella Moss. You're a lying liar and I'm ashamed to be associated with you."

"That's not what you said last night." Donna laughed and sped up the stairs to the third floor of the Residence, leaving Josh sputtering behind her.

He caught up before too long, mainly because Donna's heels were very uncomfortable after ten hours of work."Nobody in the entire world liked the chili. President Bartlet didn't actually like the chili, he just liked knowing he could make anybody eat it."

"'Remember, Joshua, thou art mortal?'" she suggested with an arch smile. "Anyway, it wasn't about the taste. I liked it because it was like this, everyone getting together and celebrating a victory, or just taking a minute to socialize," she explained. "The first time I had the chili was on the campaign, right after California, when we had pretty much sewn up the nomination. I'd only been paid staff for a couple of weeks, but I still got invited to the chili night, right along with Margaret and Mrs. Landingham. That's when I knew I was really a part of things, you know? That I really belonged. So I've always liked the chili."

He took her hand and raised it to his lips to kiss the slim golden band he'd put there, a rare romantic gesture at work."I guess I can accept purely sentimental reasons to appreciate the chili as a concept, totally separate from its existence as a food product."

"Chili is a food product, conceptually," Donna pointed out, curling her fingers around his.

Annabeth fell in with them as they headed for the solarium. "We're having chili?" she asked, confused.

"God no," Josh told her. "We're having hamburgers."

"But you're talking about chili?"

"The Platonic ideal of chili, apparently," Donna supplied helpfully.

"Enough about the chili!" Josh erupted. "Let's get out there before he starts serving things medium rare." He sped on ahead, leaving the Chief of Staff and her press secretary to catch up.

Donna filled Annabeth in quickly on the chili tradition in the Bartlet White House. It made her a little sad to realize that by the time Annabeth had arrived in the White House, that ritual had fallen away. Too many people gone, too little time to spare. Suddenly she hoped for many more White House cookouts.

…...

"So this is where they have White House cookouts?" Helen surveyed the little patio dubiously before turning to give her husband an equally dubious look. "This all seems very dangerous."

"It's not dangerous," Matt told her affably. "There's probably fifty Secret Service agents in shouting distance to make sure it's not dangerous."

"How many of them are packing fire extinguishers?" she asked, taking a closer look at the small portable grill he'd set up. "This looks like the thing that violated our first apartment lease."

"You'll be happy to know that I'm pretty sure we never signed a lease on this place." he assured her. "For all I know, we may be squatting here. But at least we won't go hungry." Helen rolled her eyes, but allowed him to pull her in for a kiss before the staff began arriving. "How are the kids?"

"Doing homework," Helen reported. "I told them they could come out if they wanted to. Peter's excited about the slumber party next week. I swear we started vetting families for that the day after his last birthday. But it's a little bit of normalcy for him."

"That'll be something, six ten-year-olds running around the White House all night. We should get the photographer in," Matt suggested. "Either for souvenirs or for evidence, maybe." He flicked a bit of water on the coals, listened to the sizzle. "There we go, perfect." With an oversized spatula, he began loading raw burger patties onto the grill.

Ronna and Cindy were the first onto the little patio, followed closely by Otto and Bram. Helen was a little worried she might have to order Cindy and Otto to separate corners, but the speechwriter was behaving himself for the moment. Sam and Amy came in next, already arguing about the next legislative hurdle the administration was going to have to handle. Sam was apparently in favor of healthcare overhaul, while Amy thought equal pay was a topic ripe for addressing. Amy was not even wearing a jacket, which Helen thought was either brave or crazy.

"No work talk, either of you," Matt ordered from the grill. "This is a party, people! Try and step away from the office for a couple hours!"

"Technically we're on top of the office, sir," Otto offered puckishly.

"I've been hearing about you," Matt told him, waving the spatula threateningly at him. "No apple jokes, either."

"But I had some great ones saved for after dinner!" Nobody but Otto looked disappointed about this Presidential edict, though Sam at least looked vaguely sympathetic. Josh entered next, making immediately for the grill to offer suggestions on the burgers. Helen stifled her laughter at that, wondering if Josh had ever actually cooked a hamburger in his life. He certainly had strong opinions about the best way to do it. Matt, as usual, patiently listened to all of them and then did things his own way. The burgers began to smell very good, so something had to be going right.

"The patio is too small for most of the food," Helen told everyone, "so the side dishes and drinks are all in the solarium. There are more chairs as well, and it's about twenty degrees warmer."

"Thank god!" Ronna declared fervently, drawing laughter.

Annabeth and Donna entered then, already talking about something else. Donna paused just past the doorway, looking around for a moment, then hastily excused herself as though she'd forgotten something urgent. Annabeth made her way over to Helen. "I love the cookout idea, it's so cozy and pleasant. We should think about doing it for a small reception sometime."

"Oh, I don't think so," Helen told her. "I like keeping it the way that it is, just for family and friends." Annabeth nodded in understanding. "Where did Donna go?"

"I'm not sure," Annabeth said. "I think she might have gotten a phone call. She'll probably be right back."

"You can't ask me to do that to a burger," Matt was saying to Josh as Helen wandered in that direction again. "I'm from Texas, and where I come from it's a crime."

"Come on, sir!" Josh protested, the hint of a whine in his voice. "Those burgers are still mooing. I can't decide if I'm supposed to eat them or wish the cow a speedy recovery."

"I'll give you one medium well," Matt allowed with the air of someone conferring a great and painful favor, "but you can't ask more of me than that. I'm a principled man, Josh, I have my limits."

Josh looked as though he were sorting through several possible responses, but finally subsided with them all unsaid. Helen suppressed a smile. Matt had so many responsibilities in his life and few chances for much fun; baiting Josh was one of his small daily joys. She suspected that Josh knew it and tolerated it with his usual prickly, noisy, occasionally unhinged brand of respect. It had taken Matt a long time to come to terms with the decorum attached to his office, but Josh had insisted on it from the start, sometimes over Matt's strident objections. Helen had asked about it once, and Josh had explained that the man and the President needed to be separate for the President to do what he must. He could be Matt to his family and his close personal friends, but in the White House, with his staff, he was always Mr. President or Sir. Helen could understand that, but it had still taken a lot of getting used to. She personally insisted on her staff calling her Helen in private, but there were very few hard decisions Mrs. First Lady needed the cloak of her office to make.

Edie and Lou came in, both of them securely bundled against the chilly day. Edie, like Ronna, was wearing gloves and hat in mute protest of the weather. "What's the matter with Donna?" Lou asked the room at large. "She looked like she was sprinting for the bathroom."

"Don't look at me," said Matt, "I haven't even started serving yet."

Josh was obviously concerned. "Did she look sick?"

"Well," Edie began, but Lou broke in. "Yeah, she was gonna blow chunks."

"I should go find her," Josh decided immediately, heading for the door.

Helen intercepted him, gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, I'll go get her."

…...

"All I'm saying," Amy said as she poured ketchup on her burger, "is that healthcare is another huge, massive infrastructure issue that's going to make peoples' eyes cross the second you start talking about it. It needs to be reformed, but not after we just spent the entire first year and a half of the administration trying to teach people all about school infrastructure. They're tired of it! Equal pay is a simple concept, easy to grasp, and it really needs a strong push to get it moving. We've got the moment, we've got the momentum, so why not do it?"

"It's not that simple," Sam protested. "Equal pay is important and we absolutely need to address it, but healthcare is a matter that affects every American-"

"So there are some Americans who don't know women?" Amy jabbed. "Who don't have moms, sisters, female friends? People who don't buy from or sell to women? You think that 53% of Americans earning seventy cents on the dollar is an issue that people can be immunized from by the possession of a penis?"

"That's not at all what I meant," Sam began, but was interrupted by Bram as he passed by.

"Keep it down guys, or you're going to get us all in trouble. No work tonight, remember?" the communications deputy advised.

"I don't understand the concept of not being at work," Amy told him blandly. "Aren't you eating?"

"I'm good, I've got a thing later." Amy's eyebrows went up, but Bram sped away before she could question him. She took a thoughtful bite of her hamburger.

Sam, meanwhile, had loaded his burger with grilled onions and was eating with obvious annoyance. He was easy to wind up, Amy had found, but tended to spin down just as quickly. It was probably what made him such a good foil for Josh, whose own tendency to fly off the handle and stay there needed constant countering. She wondered if Donna found Josh as exhausting as she had, but suspected that the dynamic those two had was different from anything they showed with anybody else. It wasn't more than a point of idle speculation anyway. She'd learned that for somebody who couldn't get away from work, the best way to relax was with somebody who had no idea what she did and was okay with that.

"The thing is," Sam finally said after swallowing, "Equal pay has infrastructure too, and almost as much history as healthcare reform, plus it implicates questions of corporate interest, labor markets, the fairness of maternity leave and flexible scheduling-"

"All of which need to be addressed!" Amy shot back eagerly, jumping back into the fray. "You understand, right, that the US is on the bottom of the charts for maternity and family leave, which might have implications for our truly lousy maternal morbidity rate, and there's your healthcare argument right there as well...'

…...

"I'm gonna go," Bram told Otto, sotto voce, as they both stood by the solarium door and nursed their beers.

"Go now?" Otto asked. "You've only been here a half hour."

"Yeah, but I think this is my chance. Sam and Amy are about to get busted for work talk, and the first lady's gone off somewhere. I can slip out and nobody's going to notice."

"You're like ten feet tall, you don't blend in very well," Otto pointed out. "What happens if he notices you're gone?"

"I'm just going to count on you to distract him," Bram replied with a grin.

"This had better be a really good date, and I want details," Otto muttered.

"I've got a good feeling," Bram assured him.

…...

Helen and Donna returned soon after Matt finished cooking the first batch and put the lid on the mini-grill. Donna looked a little green still, but she gamely smiled at everyone before Josh descended on her in a one-man blizzard of concern. "What happened?" he asked. "Are you okay? Do you need to go home?"

"I'm fine," Donna promised, exchanging one of those secret female looks with Helen, who headed off to find her own husband. "I just felt lousy for a couple minutes. Maybe I'll go to bed early tonight."

"You look tired," Josh agreed, not ready to let it go yet. "Do you want something to eat? The burgers are undercooked, but people seem to be okay with them."

"Oh, no thank you," she demurred hastily. "I think I'll just mingle. People seem to be having a good time."

"Yeah," Josh agreed, sliding an arm around her waist and looking with her at the gathered crowd. "It's funny how it all feels so different now."

"Different, but not entirely," Donna reminded him. "Still a bunch of good people trying to do good things for the country, and enjoying each others' company." She laced her fingers through his hand at her waist and rested her back against his chest. "It makes me hopeful for the future."

…...

Matt Santos had a burger in one hand and a beer in the other, and was feeling pretty satisfied with his life at the moment. He found Helen in the corner, deep in a conversation with Annabeth that she ended as he approached. "I can tell when I'm interrupting a plot," he observed. "Is this East Wing talk or budding sedition?"

"Don't worry honey," Helen assured him with a bland smile, "I wouldn't take your job for love or money. Just a little girl talk." She swept away, leaving Annabeth looking thoughtful in her wake.

Matt walked to the back of the balcony, where he could be heard through the open door of the solarium as well. "If I could have everyone's attention, please, just for a minute?" The conversations all around him ceased instantly. "I'm not going to make a big speech or anything like that. I have people for that."

He paused for brief laughter there, especially from Lou and Sam. "But what I do want to say is a heartfelt thank you to everyone gathered here today. We've all put in a good fight, a very long fight, and we just won a big victory on behalf of America's children. Most of them aren't going to thank us for it, especially when they realize what we're about to do to their summer vacations. But we're putting more teachers into better-supplied classrooms, and those teachers will be better trained and better supported, all because of the work you've done since we came into this White House. We've got a lot of battles ahead of us, and we're not going to win all of them. But we're going to fight every single one of them, and I don't know anybody in the world who I'd rather be fighting with than all of you."

Josh raised his glass. "Hear, hear!" he called, his voice just a little bit thick.

Donna echoed him, and the gesture spread around the room. Matt smiled and raised his glass at them all in return. "That's all I've got to say. Enjoy the food." He looked around. "Hey, where did Bram go?"

Across the room, Otto swallowed hard. He turned to Cindy, who happened to be right next to him. "That was a great speech, he told her. "It was very... a-peel-ing."

"Oh my God, that is it!" Otto ran for his life as laughter and a few cheers broke out, mostly for Cindy. As he fled, Otto swore that Bram would owe him for this, big time.


End file.
